Artificial leg.



.1. F. CORDELL.

ARTIFICIAL LEG.

APPLICAIION FILED mus. 191:.

Patented Oct. 23,1911

2 SHEETSSHEET I 1. F. CORDELL.

ARTIHCIAVL LEG.

APPLHIATION HLED JAN. 8. 1911.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN F. CORDELL, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

ARTIFICIAL :LEG.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented o t. 23, 1917.

Application filed January 8, 1917. Serial No. 141,214.

1 b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHN F. GORDELL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake, State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Legs; and I do hereby declare the following to'be a full,

clear, and exact description of the'invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use an improved and simplified ankle joint for artificial limbs which is capable of forward, backward and lateral motion or action. More particularly it is the object of the invention to provide a ball-hinged joint as a connection between the leg member and the foot member of an artificial leg, the use of which will avoid the necessity of cords which have a tendency to break and to stretch. Also, the ball joint of my invention is of such simple and readily accessible construction that its parts may be quickly detached for the purpose of renewal and repairs while securely holding the parts together in actual service.

With the above objects in view and such others as will hereinafter appear, my invention will now be fully set forth and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a foot and ankle as assembled,

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the foot and ankle,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the foot,

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the ball and its connecting bolts,

Fig. 5 is an elevation of one of the socket members with its connecting bolts, and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the foot member.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the shin block or member of the leg, which is formed of a suitable hard wood, and has a hemispherical socket 2 formed in its lower end, the lower face of the shin block being inclined forwardly and rearwardly from the socket 2 to provide the clearance spaces 3 and 1 respectively, so that the shin block may rock with relation to the The object of the invention is to provide foot block 5 which is also formed of any suitable hard wood. The forward clearance space 3 is provided with a steel face plate 6 which is adapted to bear against a rubber cushion '7 which is mounted in a recess formed in the top of the foot block 5. Thus, when the shin block 1 is rocked forwardly, the impact between the clearance space 3 and the foot block is absorbed by the cushion 7. As a complement to the socket 2 the foot block 5 is similarly recessed or socketed as at 8, and is therein provided with a bronze ball cup 9 whose edges terminate flush with the upper surface of the foot block. 5. Seated in the cup is a steel ball 10 from diametrically opposite points of which, transversely of the foot, rise the bolts 11 which are provided with the right-angularly turned shanks 12 which are socketed in the ball, and provide a sufficient clearance between the surface of the ball and the bolts 11 to permit the necessary free movement of the ball. The bolts 11 extend through suitable openings formed vertically through the shin block 1, and at their upper ends are passed through a plate 13 which rests upon the upper end of the shin block 1 and is secured in position by means of nuts 14 threaded upon the upper ends of the bolts 11.

The ball 10 is capped by means of a companion bronze ball cup let which is free to ride over the ball 10, and is supported by an inverted U-shaped bolt 15. The U-bolt 15 is suitably recessed into the lower end of the shin block 1, and passing forwardly and rearwardly past the ball 10 extends through vertical passage-ways in the foot block 5, and below the latter has its ends spaced by a connecting plate 16 which is secured in place by means of the nuts 17 threaded on the ends of the U-bolt. In this manner, a flexible ball joint between the shin member and the foot member is provided, the rockingof the ball in the cups 9 and 14 providing a forward, rearward and lateral action of the shin.

The foot block 5 terminates at its forward end in a suitable toe section 18 of felt or 7 other like material, the latter being carried by the foot shaped section 19 which is the forward end of the block 5. The upper end of the shin block 1 terminates in an element 20 which is of full leg size, and the space between the section 20 and the section 19 is filled in by means of a rubber ankle casing 21 of suitable thickness and conformation to completely incase the ball joint or to till the foot out to its proper lite-like shape. The upper and lower margins of the ankle casing 21 are faced with canvas strips 22which form a reinforcement and cap strip against which the, screws 23 bear, the screws 23 passing through the rubber ankle section and into the body of the blocks 1 and 5, in order to secure the ankle section 21 in place. Inserted in the met portion is a sponge rubber pad, which is cemented to the block 5 and is suitably apertured to receive the nuts 17.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that l have provided an improved form of artificial limb, and that the joint between the "foot and the shin elements of the limb provides an extremely simple and practical means for flexing the ankle joint. The parts are readily assembled upon occasion and there is practically no likelihood of the parts becoming loosened or disarranged since the whole assemblage and adjustment depends merely upon the degree to which the ends 1-1 and 17 are tightened.

What I claim as my invention is 1. An artificial limb comprising in combination, a foot block, a shin block a ball seat in the foot block, a ball operative in said ball seat, fixed arms extending upwardly from opposite sides of the ball and passing through said shin block, a U-bolt passed over said ball and having its arms extended through the foot block, and a cap plate interposed between the ball and the U-bolt.

2. In an artificial limb the-combination with foot block having a ball seat formed therein, a ball mounted to rock in the seat a shin bloclrhaving a recess which receives I theball, and having forward and rear inclined faces extending from a transverse axis to-perniit the rocking movement rela tive to the foot blocl: a cap plate carried by the foot block and interposed between. the

Gaines oi, this, natentcmay be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the flommissioner of Patents Washingtomjlti 

